On the evening of December 9, local time, the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) was jointly hosted by the Energy Research Institute of the China Academy of Macroeconomics and the Smart Energy Innovation Institute of the State Power Investment Corporation of Shanghai Jiao Tong University"China Corner"Side Meeting"Working together to shape the future of the global energy transition"The seminar and the presentation of "China's Energy Transition Outlook 2023" were successfully held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Xie Zhenhua, China's Special Envoy for Climate Change, Dan Joensen, Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy, Mary Warwick, Deputy Director General of the International Energy Agency, Wang Hao, Deputy Director of the Promotion Division of the Department of Environmental Resources of the National Development and Reform Commission, Academician Huang Zhen, Dean of the Smart Energy Innovation College of of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Lei Hongpeng, Director of the Global Climate Program of the Children's Investment Association (UK), attended the meeting and delivered speeches. Lu Wenbin, director of the Energy Research Institute, presided over the meeting. Experts from Columbia University, Denmark's Department of Climate, Energy and Utilities, UNFCCC Climate Champions (UK), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China Association of Circular Economy, China Academy of Macroeconomics and other relevant institutions attended the meeting.
In his speech, Special Envoy Xie Zhenhua pointed out that the energy sector is the most important greenhouse gas emitter, and there is an urgent need to accelerate the global energy transition, and today's meeting is very important. He said that China is exploring a new path of green and low-carbon growth, and continues to make great efforts to promote the transformation of fossil fuels, and the installed capacity of renewable energy power generation in the country has exceeded 1.4 billion kilowatts, accounting for about half of the country's power generation capacityThe production and sales of new energy vehicles have ranked first in the world for 8 consecutive years, and the number of ownership has exceeded half of the worldThe world's largest number of charging and swapping infrastructure, the widest range of services, and the most complete types of types;The energy efficiency level of key industries such as coal-fired power generation and electrolytic aluminum has entered the world's advanced ranks. Special Envoy Xie Zhenhua said that the "China Energy Transition Outlook 2023" report is an example of China-Denmark and China-US cooperation. He stressed that it is important to explore the optimal transition path suitable for the national conditions of each country and form an inclusive, pragmatic and feasible consensus on energy transition, and hoped that the experts of the participating think tanks will deeply analyze the common, systemic and challenging problems of the world, put forward forward-looking and innovative energy transition solutions, and contribute more wisdom and strength to the full implementation of the Paris Agreement and the global green and low-carbon transition.
Dan Joensen, Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy, said that in order to achieve 1With the 5-degree target, the world needs to increase climate ambition, and Denmark has decided to bring forward the climate neutrality target to 2045, and has clarified in law the obligation to progress towards the target every year. He pointed out that the green energy transition must be a global effort, and China plays a vital role, and China is actively taking action to promote the realization of this vision. As an important outcome of the cooperation between China and Denmark, the China Energy Transition Outlook 2023 report charts the path of China's energy transition and points out the way forward to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.
Mary Warwick, Deputy Administrator of the International Energy Agency, presented the findings of the IEA's latest study on the global energy sector's roadmap to near-zero emissions. She pointed out that a new clean energy economy is rapidly emerging, and China is a major contributor to accelerating this process, with about half of the world's investment in clean energy in 2022, about half of the world's new photovoltaic and wind power installations, and more than half of the world's electric vehicle sales. She said advanced economies and China have an opportunity to lead global progress together by accelerating domestic clean transition efforts.
Wang Hao, deputy director of the promotion department of the National Development and Reform Commission's Department of Environmental Resources, said that the energy transition is the most important measure for China's climate action, but it is also a complex system project. He stressed that the increasing share of renewable energy will pose a huge challenge to the security and stability of the power grid, and that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for affordable, reliable and sustainable modern energy for all, where affordability and reliability are equally important, especially for developing countries. He said that China will focus on accelerating the construction of a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system through technological innovation, improving mechanisms and business models, and strengthening supervision.
Academician Huang Zhen, Dean of the School of Smart Energy Innovation of of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said that China's energy transition is facing huge challenges, not overnight, but to advance in an orderly manner, first establish and then break, and the energy transition path needs to be scientifically designed based on policies and laws and regulations, technology, market and other levels, and it is important to accelerate"Double carbon"We will build a legal system, vigorously promote low-carbon, zero-carbon, and carbon-negative scientific and technological innovation and energy revolution, and give full play to the role of the market in allocating resources.
Lei Hongpeng, Director of the Global Climate Program of the Children's Investment Association (UK), said that the climate crisis is a common challenge facing all mankind, and he hopes that the world will work together to promote net zero emissions. He pointed out that China has made remarkable achievements in the development of renewable energy, with the country's new renewable energy installed capacity nearly doubling year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2023, and will further reduce its dependence on fossil fuels in the future. The China Energy Transition Outlook 2023 report charts China's path to achieving energy transition. He said that he was very happy to cooperate with the project team and hoped to have more exchanges with everyone on energy transition in the future.
In the keynote session, Bai Quan, Director of the Energy Efficiency Center of the Energy Research Institute of the China Academy of Macroeconomics, introduced the main research results of the "China Energy Transition Outlook 2023". David Sandro, the inaugural researcher at the Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, introduced U.S. energy policy. Christian Steinberg, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, presented on the Danish Energy Transition – Accelerating the Transition to a Climate-Neutral Society.
China's Energy Transition Outlook 2023 focuses on achieving the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality as scheduled and implementing the strategic goals of the Paris Agreement, focusing on how to ensure energy security in the process of low-carbon energy transformation and achieve better cost-effectiveness with the optimal path selection. The report illustrates the different energy transition pathways to achieve these goals through one reference scenario and two carbon neutrality scenarios**, as well as the different technology options that may be adopted for the energy system in the future. In addition to scenario analysis, the China Energy Transition Outlook 2023 also provides thematic analysis on energy security, carbon pricing, methane emission control, and specific project implementation experiences. As part of the international cooperation between the Energy Institute and the Danish Energy Agency, the report also presents Denmark's experience in the energy transition.
The main conclusions of the China Energy Transition Outlook 2023 show that the green and low-carbon transformation and development of the energy system can ensure that China achieves carbon neutrality by 2060. Under the carbon neutrality scenario, China will embark on a new green and low-carbon development path, with the continuous improvement of industrial low-carbon development capabilities and competitiveness, the steady improvement of energy efficiency, the increasing application scenarios of green electricity, green hydrogen and electricity-to-liquid fuels, and the revolutionary changes in the structure of energy demand and energy production. In terms of the transition path, the continuous improvement of energy efficiency and electrification rate is the premise and foundation for achieving carbon neutrality, the deep decarbonization of the energy structure and the accelerated shift to non-fossil energy are necessary conditions for achieving net-zero emissions in the energy system. Demand-side response and smart grid are the key to ensuring the security of the power system, the role of coal power in the power system will change from baseload power supply to flexible regulation power supply, green hydrogen will play the dual role of zero-carbon raw materials and zero-carbon fuel, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an important option to achieve carbon neutrality"Last resort", but not overly reliant on CCS technology.
Expert comments and panel discussions were moderated by Kaare Sandholt, Chief International Expert on China's Energy Transition Program. Wang Yi, researcher of the Institute of Science and Technology Strategy Consulting, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Gu Jun, deputy dean of the Smart Energy Innovation College of of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Simon Sharpe, director of the economic department of UNFCCC Climate Champions, Zhu Liyang, president of the China Association of Circular Economy, and Liu Qiang, deputy chief representative of China of the Children's Investment Association (UK), participated in the discussion, focusing on the "China Energy Transition Outlook 2023", the key opportunities and challenges of energy transition, Topics such as energy transition financing and support for developing countries, cutting-edge technological innovation in low-carbon and zero-carbon energy, and international energy transition cooperation were exchanged and discussed.
*: China**Net.